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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bark · squash · pop · cap · wind · court · stock · wound

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. stock — shares
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cap — of ice
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bark — to shout
  14. pop — soda
  15. stock — goods
  16. pop — music
  17. pop — to visit
  18. court — of law
  19. court — for sport
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cap — a hat
  22. court — of a king
  23. squash — to crush
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com